SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“How can I learn God’s will? That is, how can I penetrate into the mind of God, into what God is thinking? This is horrible! It is impermissible to even phrase the question like this! The question should be: How can I fulfill God’s will? How can I keep from being an opponent of God’s will in my life or in one or another move?...you should act according to that mind, but sincerely; and according to that conscience, but sincerely. Act sincerely—this will be your fulfillment of

“Often when we stand or sit to pray, it is not a coldness of heart that defeats us, nor a lack of will, nor a feebleness of character. It is, rather, the constant flood of thoughts that conquers the mind, which we realize we have little ability to control…As we have seen, it is futile to try to struggle against thoughts by our own willpower; rather, our struggle should be to raise our minds and hearts to the help of the Most High. This we can do simply and instantaneously thr

“In order to have a center formed in oneself and to be able to pray from that secret place, it is imperative that one put one's time in before God, every day without fail. Specific periods of watchfulness and prayer must be set aside each day, especially in the morning and evening.” (Hieromonk Damascene Christensen) “ ‘By practicing watchfulness, we essentially fulfill all the commandments—both those of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament. Sometimes we ask: “Wha

“ ‘The extreme greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that it does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering, but a supernatural...

“The striving of the proud mind to know that which is supposedly hidden from others—the temptation of gnosis, self-deification without...

“I once confessed to an experienced priest that sinful thoughts were torturing me, and this is what he advised me: “Think of the thoughts...

“Has the world always been such a mad dash and so busy, or is something just wrong with me? But it’s not the outer disquiet that troubles...

“A Christian is more than a person who is baptized, goes to church, who keeps some rule...He is someone who has Christ within himself,...

“Our free will gives us either a propensity to virtue, or an inclination to sin…humans are aligned either with mortal Adam or the...